Relocation to Bay Area with family (wife and 3yo son) (San Jose: 2013, apartment)

[Bagme]

Hello all,

I am an Asian and into IT based in SF. We are planning to move to SF/Bay area end of this year. Yet to get my proposed salary yet but base on some calculation, it should be around $110k/yr. I would like to gather as much information as possible before we move over. Office will be at Pier 1 San Francisco. wife is sahm.

Salary Paycheck Calculator
Your Pay Check Results
Monthly Gross Pay $9,166.67
Federal Withholding $1,196.46
Social Security $568.33
Medicare $132.92
California $465.60
CA SDI $91.67
Net Pay $6,711.69

Calculation Based On
Tax Year 2013
Gross Pay $110,000.00
Pay Frequency Monthly
Federal Filing Status Married
# of Federal Exemptions 3
Additional Federal W/H $0.00
State California Filing status Married
Allowances 0
Add. Allowances 0
Additional State W/H $0.00
CA SDI Yes

I will be on H1B, so my wife and son will be H4. Is the above calculation correct? I need to know the exact take home pay before I proceed to calculate my monthly expenses.

Assuming it is correct, this is our estimated expenses :
RENT = $2500 (Single House, 1/2bed room at Fremont, zip 94539)
FOOD & Grocery= $800
UTILITIES (water, sewer, trash) = $200
TV/INTERNET/Phone = $200
PG & E = $80-100
CAR INSURANCE (no credit history) = $100
CAR = 0 (intend to get a 3yo Nissan Murano, pay all in cash)
MEDICAL INSURANCE = $200 (wife and a 3yo son )
Preschool = Public School
Gasoline = $100
Parking = ?
Public Transport = $250 (bart from fremont to SF)


Did I miss out anything?

I earn about this amount in my country and my take home is $8.5k, we are above middle income group in my country. I stay in a private condo, own a 6yo car, we can afford to eat out weekly ($40+ each meal) and we travel yearly ( 1-3 times a year, 3 times if short distant like 6 hours flight, if long haul flight holiday, once a yr and it costs up to $10k for a 10 days holiday). we manage to save close to 2.5k monthly and we have 6 digits savings in just 7 years. we enjoy the lifestyles but my wife is really good at saving money . (I don't know how she did it, she manages the finance at home) I know we may not be able to continue with this lifestyle if we were to go SF but I still want to give it a try.

with the balance of $2300, how would it be and is it enough for family of 3?
is my calculation for expenses accurate?
is there any suburb with good school besides fremont mission? how's the rental like?
is staying in single house better than apartment?
apartment and condo, what's the different?
is staying in apartment safe?
how many dependents do I enter for # federal exemption? 3 including myself?

THANKS in advance !!

by the way, I got this from another site, please advise if this is more accurate.
Calculator: Gross to Net / Net to Gross
Employee Gross to Net Calculation
Per Pay Period
Calendar Year
Monthly - 12 pay periods per year
Gross Pay$9,200.00 $110,400.00
Federal Income Tax($1,448.54)($17,382.48)
Social Security($570.40)($6,844.80)
Medicare($133.40)($1,600.80)State Income Tax($530.85)($6,370.20)
State Disability Insurance($92.00)($1,104.00)
Employee Take-home Pay$6,424.81 $77,097.72

[StandingRoomOnly]

I won't comment on the take home pay--but "public preschool" doesn't exist here as far as I know. You will be paying anywhere from $350-750 a month for preschool (for 2 half days per week).

[bobby_guz_man]

OP, please post this question in the SF-Oakland forum.

Why are you posting this in the San Jose forum when you are clearly asking if the income is decent enough to stay in SF?

Or do you mean San Francisco Bay Area? San Francisco Bay Area and San Francisco the city are two different things. Don't get the two mixed up.

I aint trying to be a dick, I'm just trying to help you out

I don't know...single-income household, with a kid too... Gonna be tough, but I like your can-do attitude. We're always glad to have more of your type!

Just for your reference, my wife and I have a combined net takehome of 10k/month, and we've been putting off kids for the last 2 years. We do have a sizable saving though (our savings rate exceed 50% of our takehome). We have a life similar to yours, though even with that we find having kids are going to be very taxing....so you might really look into that aspect.